President Moi also warned against outside interference in the country's constitutional reforms process, and said parliament was best placed to undertake the task.

Speaking at the Nyayo national stadium in Nairobi, he said that Kenya was one of the developing countries within Africa, and the country did not need to be told how to run its affairs.

"I have seen a tendency, even among members of the Commonwealth, particularly when talking about Kenya's constitution, to come to lecture us on the issue. Do they think we are fools?" he said.

"Even the South African constitution is being sent around here to sell among Kenyans, but we don't need their constitution," the president added.

Reform

The Law Society of Kenya has been holding discussions on how to go about reforming the country's constitution.

On Friday, South African High Commissioner to Kenya, Griffith Memela, opened a workshop at the Law Society and called on Kenya to emulate the South African experience.

President Moi now says the job of reforming the constitution should be left to parliament, where his Kenya African National Union party has a majority.

Kenya's constitution has been amended several times since the country's independence from Britain in 1963.

Clean-up

The president also said steps were being taken to "rationalise the civil service in order to enhance efficiency and accountability by public servants".

Last July, he appointed Richard Leakey, a conservationist, to tackle corruption and inefficiency in the civil service.

A parliamentary report in Kenya recently revealed that $10bn of public funds went missing during the course of one year.

The report - by the Public Accounts Committee - said that during 1994-95 the money was either lost or uncollected by the departments responsible.